Prep softball: Marin Catholic gets statement win over San Marin

There was no love lost when the Marin Catholic High softball team took the field against San Marin in what has the makings of shaping up to be a nice rivalry. Former Mustangs' assistant coach Dave Albini, now the head coach at MC, saw his Wildcats get the best of San Marin 9-5 on Thursday at Redwood High.

Julia Rabbitt's two-strike, three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning off of San Marin pitcher Hayley Gazdik blew open a 5-4 game. Behind a complete-game effort from pitcher Meg Costella, the Wildcats earned the statement victory over the defending MCAL and North Coast Section Division III champions.

"I was just looking for a pitch, it didn't need to be a strike, but close to being one and not swing at anything high," said Rabbitt, who finished 2 for 4 with four RBIs. "I thought it was just a fly ball, but I heard my coach at first base saying 'That's gone.'"

The Mustangs grabbed the early lead when freshman catcher Samantha Tong took Costella deep to left for a homer to lead off the top of the second.

"It was just a fastball right in my zone where I know I can get contact," said Tong about her first high school home run. "It was a great feeling."

The Wildcats answered in the bottom half of the inning with four runs to take a 4-1 advantage. After MC loaded the bases with nobody out, it looked as if Gazdik was going to get out of the jam when Costella lined into a double play. Shortstop Sara Tong scooped the sinking liner off her shoe tops, tumbled and threw to third to double up the base runner.

An infield single loaded the bases and a walk forced in a run. Hanna Politzer drove in two runs with a single to right field. Rabbitt plated another run with a single to left.

San Marin came back to tie the game in the fourth inning with three runs. Rebecca Simonetti ripped a single up the middle to score a run and later scored on a squeeze-play executed by Chase Hollander. Sara Tong's RBI groundout knotted the game at 4-4.

"We battled, I think we battled hard, that's what's fun about games like this," San Marin coach Liz Hartmann said. "We're still young and we're still growing and we're working hard. By the end of the season, it could be a whole different game. We're going to see them again."

The Marin Catholic fifth inning got going when Angela Begg singled and advanced to second on an error. Nicole Marino's infield single scored Begg to give MC the lead and Dominique Gold followed with a hit to right to set the table for Rabbitt.

"(Rabbitt's) hit was huge because I told the girls we're really good at loading the bases, but we're not so good at scoring them, we've done that a lot this year," MC coach Dave Albini said. "It was huge because it was a two-out home run, that was the one that put us over the top."

Not only did the Wildcats want to win it for their coach, but the victory is a statement that MC could challenge for the MCAL title come postseason.

"We came in knowing that we have nothing to lose, we're not expected to win," said Costella, who struck out five Mustangs on the day. "They're a good team, next time it's going to be even harder playing them."

"We just wanted to show San Marin and everyone else that we got it in us and we wanted to do it for Dave," Rabbitt said. "It was a good game."